ssh.0 revision 180740
1180740SdesSSH(1)                     OpenBSD Reference Manual                     SSH(1)
2180740Sdes
3180740SdesNAME
4180740Sdes     ssh - OpenSSH SSH client (remote login program)
5180740Sdes
6180740SdesSYNOPSIS
7180740Sdes     ssh [-1246AaCfgkMNnqsTtVvXxY] [-b bind_address] [-c cipher_spec]
8180740Sdes         [-D [bind_address:]port] [-e escape_char] [-F configfile]
9180740Sdes         [-i identity_file] [-L [bind_address:]port:host:hostport]
10180740Sdes         [-l login_name] [-m mac_spec] [-O ctl_cmd] [-o option] [-p port]
11180740Sdes         [-R [bind_address:]port:host:hostport] [-S ctl_path]
12180740Sdes         [-w local_tun[:remote_tun]] [user@]hostname [command]
13180740Sdes
14180740SdesDESCRIPTION
15180740Sdes     ssh (SSH client) is a program for logging into a remote machine and for
16180740Sdes     executing commands on a remote machine.  It is intended to replace rlogin
17180740Sdes     and rsh, and provide secure encrypted communications between two untrust-
18180740Sdes     ed hosts over an insecure network.  X11 connections and arbitrary TCP
19180740Sdes     ports can also be forwarded over the secure channel.
20180740Sdes
21180740Sdes     ssh connects and logs into the specified hostname (with optional user
22180740Sdes     name).  The user must prove his/her identity to the remote machine using
23180740Sdes     one of several methods depending on the protocol version used (see be-
24180740Sdes     low).
25180740Sdes
26180740Sdes     If command is specified, it is executed on the remote host instead of a
27180740Sdes     login shell.
28180740Sdes
29180740Sdes     The options are as follows:
30180740Sdes
31180740Sdes     -1      Forces ssh to try protocol version 1 only.
32180740Sdes
33180740Sdes     -2      Forces ssh to try protocol version 2 only.
34180740Sdes
35180740Sdes     -4      Forces ssh to use IPv4 addresses only.
36180740Sdes
37180740Sdes     -6      Forces ssh to use IPv6 addresses only.
38180740Sdes
39180740Sdes     -A      Enables forwarding of the authentication agent connection.  This
40180740Sdes             can also be specified on a per-host basis in a configuration
41180740Sdes             file.
42180740Sdes
43180740Sdes             Agent forwarding should be enabled with caution.  Users with the
44180740Sdes             ability to bypass file permissions on the remote host (for the
45180740Sdes             agent's Unix-domain socket) can access the local agent through
46180740Sdes             the forwarded connection.  An attacker cannot obtain key material
47180740Sdes             from the agent, however they can perform operations on the keys
48180740Sdes             that enable them to authenticate using the identities loaded into
49180740Sdes             the agent.
50180740Sdes
51180740Sdes     -a      Disables forwarding of the authentication agent connection.
52180740Sdes
53180740Sdes     -b bind_address
54180740Sdes             Use bind_address on the local machine as the source address of
55180740Sdes             the connection.  Only useful on systems with more than one ad-
56180740Sdes             dress.
57180740Sdes
58180740Sdes     -C      Requests compression of all data (including stdin, stdout,
59180740Sdes             stderr, and data for forwarded X11 and TCP connections).  The
60180740Sdes             compression algorithm is the same used by gzip(1), and the
61180740Sdes             ``level'' can be controlled by the CompressionLevel option for
62180740Sdes             protocol version 1.  Compression is desirable on modem lines and
63180740Sdes             other slow connections, but will only slow down things on fast
64180740Sdes             networks.  The default value can be set on a host-by-host basis
65180740Sdes             in the configuration files; see the Compression option.
66180740Sdes
67180740Sdes     -c cipher_spec
68180740Sdes             Selects the cipher specification for encrypting the session.
69180740Sdes
70180740Sdes             Protocol version 1 allows specification of a single cipher.  The
71180740Sdes             supported values are ``3des'', ``blowfish'', and ``des''.  3des
72180740Sdes             (triple-des) is an encrypt-decrypt-encrypt triple with three dif-
73180740Sdes             ferent keys.  It is believed to be secure.  blowfish is a fast
74180740Sdes             block cipher; it appears very secure and is much faster than
75180740Sdes             3des.  des is only supported in the ssh client for interoperabil-
76180740Sdes             ity with legacy protocol 1 implementations that do not support
77180740Sdes             the 3des cipher.  Its use is strongly discouraged due to crypto-
78180740Sdes             graphic weaknesses.  The default is ``3des''.
79180740Sdes
80180740Sdes             For protocol version 2, cipher_spec is a comma-separated list of
81180740Sdes             ciphers listed in order of preference.  The supported ciphers
82180740Sdes             are: 3des-cbc, aes128-cbc, aes192-cbc, aes256-cbc, aes128-ctr,
83180740Sdes             aes192-ctr, aes256-ctr, arcfour128, arcfour256, arcfour, blow-
84180740Sdes             fish-cbc, and cast128-cbc.  The default is:
85180740Sdes
86180740Sdes                   aes128-cbc,3des-cbc,blowfish-cbc,cast128-cbc,arcfour128,
87180740Sdes                   arcfour256,arcfour,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc,aes128-ctr,
88180740Sdes                   aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr
89180740Sdes
90180740Sdes     -D [bind_address:]port
91180740Sdes             Specifies a local ``dynamic'' application-level port forwarding.
92180740Sdes             This works by allocating a socket to listen to port on the local
93180740Sdes             side, optionally bound to the specified bind_address.  Whenever a
94180740Sdes             connection is made to this port, the connection is forwarded over
95180740Sdes             the secure channel, and the application protocol is then used to
96180740Sdes             determine where to connect to from the remote machine.  Currently
97180740Sdes             the SOCKS4 and SOCKS5 protocols are supported, and ssh will act
98180740Sdes             as a SOCKS server.  Only root can forward privileged ports.  Dy-
99180740Sdes             namic port forwardings can also be specified in the configuration
100180740Sdes             file.
101180740Sdes
102180740Sdes             IPv6 addresses can be specified with an alternative syntax:
103180740Sdes             [bind_address/]port or by enclosing the address in square brack-
104180740Sdes             ets.  Only the superuser can forward privileged ports.  By de-
105180740Sdes             fault, the local port is bound in accordance with the
106180740Sdes             GatewayPorts setting.  However, an explicit bind_address may be
107180740Sdes             used to bind the connection to a specific address.  The
108180740Sdes             bind_address of ``localhost'' indicates that the listening port
109180740Sdes             be bound for local use only, while an empty address or `*' indi-
110180740Sdes             cates that the port should be available from all interfaces.
111180740Sdes
112180740Sdes     -e escape_char
113180740Sdes             Sets the escape character for sessions with a pty (default: `~').
114180740Sdes             The escape character is only recognized at the beginning of a
115180740Sdes             line.  The escape character followed by a dot (`.') closes the
116180740Sdes             connection; followed by control-Z suspends the connection; and
117180740Sdes             followed by itself sends the escape character once.  Setting the
118180740Sdes             character to ``none'' disables any escapes and makes the session
119180740Sdes             fully transparent.
120180740Sdes
121180740Sdes     -F configfile
122180740Sdes             Specifies an alternative per-user configuration file.  If a con-
123180740Sdes             figuration file is given on the command line, the system-wide
124180740Sdes             configuration file (/etc/ssh/ssh_config) will be ignored.  The
125180740Sdes             default for the per-user configuration file is ~/.ssh/config.
126180740Sdes
127180740Sdes     -f      Requests ssh to go to background just before command execution.
128180740Sdes             This is useful if ssh is going to ask for passwords or passphras-
129180740Sdes             es, but the user wants it in the background.  This implies -n.
130180740Sdes             The recommended way to start X11 programs at a remote site is
131180740Sdes             with something like ssh -f host xterm.
132180740Sdes
133180740Sdes     -g      Allows remote hosts to connect to local forwarded ports.
134180740Sdes
135180740Sdes     -I smartcard_device
136180740Sdes             Specify the device ssh should use to communicate with a smartcard
137180740Sdes             used for storing the user's private RSA key.  This option is only
138180740Sdes             available if support for smartcard devices is compiled in (de-
139180740Sdes             fault is no support).
140180740Sdes
141180740Sdes     -i identity_file
142180740Sdes             Selects a file from which the identity (private key) for RSA or
143180740Sdes             DSA authentication is read.  The default is ~/.ssh/identity for
144180740Sdes             protocol version 1, and ~/.ssh/id_rsa and ~/.ssh/id_dsa for pro-
145180740Sdes             tocol version 2.  Identity files may also be specified on a per-
146180740Sdes             host basis in the configuration file.  It is possible to have
147180740Sdes             multiple -i options (and multiple identities specified in config-
148180740Sdes             uration files).
149180740Sdes
150180740Sdes     -k      Disables forwarding (delegation) of GSSAPI credentials to the
151180740Sdes             server.
152180740Sdes
153180740Sdes     -L [bind_address:]port:host:hostport
154180740Sdes             Specifies that the given port on the local (client) host is to be
155180740Sdes             forwarded to the given host and port on the remote side.  This
156180740Sdes             works by allocating a socket to listen to port on the local side,
157180740Sdes             optionally bound to the specified bind_address.  Whenever a con-
158180740Sdes             nection is made to this port, the connection is forwarded over
159180740Sdes             the secure channel, and a connection is made to host port
160180740Sdes             hostport from the remote machine.  Port forwardings can also be
161180740Sdes             specified in the configuration file.  IPv6 addresses can be spec-
162180740Sdes             ified with an alternative syntax: [bind_address/]port/host/host-
163180740Sdes             port or by enclosing the address in square brackets.  Only the
164180740Sdes             superuser can forward privileged ports.  By default, the local
165180740Sdes             port is bound in accordance with the GatewayPorts setting.  How-
166180740Sdes             ever, an explicit bind_address may be used to bind the connection
167180740Sdes             to a specific address.  The bind_address of ``localhost'' indi-
168180740Sdes             cates that the listening port be bound for local use only, while
169180740Sdes             an empty address or `*' indicates that the port should be avail-
170180740Sdes             able from all interfaces.
171180740Sdes
172180740Sdes     -l login_name
173180740Sdes             Specifies the user to log in as on the remote machine.  This also
174180740Sdes             may be specified on a per-host basis in the configuration file.
175180740Sdes
176180740Sdes     -M      Places the ssh client into ``master'' mode for connection shar-
177180740Sdes             ing.  Multiple -M options places ssh into ``master'' mode with
178180740Sdes             confirmation required before slave connections are accepted.  Re-
179180740Sdes             fer to the description of ControlMaster in ssh_config(5) for de-
180180740Sdes             tails.
181180740Sdes
182180740Sdes     -m mac_spec
183180740Sdes             Additionally, for protocol version 2 a comma-separated list of
184180740Sdes             MAC (message authentication code) algorithms can be specified in
185180740Sdes             order of preference.  See the MACs keyword for more information.
186180740Sdes
187180740Sdes     -N      Do not execute a remote command.  This is useful for just for-
188180740Sdes             warding ports (protocol version 2 only).
189180740Sdes
190180740Sdes     -n      Redirects stdin from /dev/null (actually, prevents reading from
191180740Sdes             stdin).  This must be used when ssh is run in the background.  A
192180740Sdes             common trick is to use this to run X11 programs on a remote ma-
193180740Sdes             chine.  For example, ssh -n shadows.cs.hut.fi emacs & will start
194180740Sdes             an emacs on shadows.cs.hut.fi, and the X11 connection will be au-
195180740Sdes             tomatically forwarded over an encrypted channel.  The ssh program
196180740Sdes             will be put in the background.  (This does not work if ssh needs
197180740Sdes             to ask for a password or passphrase; see also the -f option.)
198180740Sdes
199180740Sdes     -O ctl_cmd
200180740Sdes             Control an active connection multiplexing master process.  When
201180740Sdes             the -O option is specified, the ctl_cmd argument is interpreted
202180740Sdes             and passed to the master process.  Valid commands are: ``check''
203180740Sdes             (check that the master process is running) and ``exit'' (request
204180740Sdes             the master to exit).
205180740Sdes
206180740Sdes     -o option
207180740Sdes             Can be used to give options in the format used in the configura-
208180740Sdes             tion file.  This is useful for specifying options for which there
209180740Sdes             is no separate command-line flag.  For full details of the op-
210180740Sdes             tions listed below, and their possible values, see ssh_config(5).
211180740Sdes
212180740Sdes                   AddressFamily
213180740Sdes                   BatchMode
214180740Sdes                   BindAddress
215180740Sdes                   ChallengeResponseAuthentication
216180740Sdes                   CheckHostIP
217180740Sdes                   Cipher
218180740Sdes                   Ciphers
219180740Sdes                   ClearAllForwardings
220180740Sdes                   Compression
221180740Sdes                   CompressionLevel
222180740Sdes                   ConnectionAttempts
223180740Sdes                   ConnectTimeout
224180740Sdes                   ControlMaster
225180740Sdes                   ControlPath
226180740Sdes                   DynamicForward
227180740Sdes                   EscapeChar
228180740Sdes                   ExitOnForwardFailure
229180740Sdes                   ForwardAgent
230180740Sdes                   ForwardX11
231180740Sdes                   ForwardX11Trusted
232180740Sdes                   GatewayPorts
233180740Sdes                   GlobalKnownHostsFile
234180740Sdes                   GSSAPIAuthentication
235180740Sdes                   GSSAPIDelegateCredentials
236180740Sdes                   HashKnownHosts
237180740Sdes                   Host
238180740Sdes                   HostbasedAuthentication
239180740Sdes                   HostKeyAlgorithms
240180740Sdes                   HostKeyAlias
241180740Sdes                   HostName
242180740Sdes                   IdentityFile
243180740Sdes                   IdentitiesOnly
244180740Sdes                   KbdInteractiveDevices
245180740Sdes                   LocalCommand
246180740Sdes                   LocalForward
247180740Sdes                   LogLevel
248180740Sdes                   MACs
249180740Sdes                   NoHostAuthenticationForLocalhost
250180740Sdes                   NumberOfPasswordPrompts
251180740Sdes                   PasswordAuthentication
252180740Sdes                   PermitLocalCommand
253180740Sdes                   Port
254180740Sdes                   PreferredAuthentications
255180740Sdes                   Protocol
256180740Sdes                   ProxyCommand
257180740Sdes                   PubkeyAuthentication
258180740Sdes                   RekeyLimit
259180740Sdes                   RemoteForward
260180740Sdes                   RhostsRSAAuthentication
261180740Sdes                   RSAAuthentication
262180740Sdes                   SendEnv
263180740Sdes                   ServerAliveInterval
264180740Sdes                   ServerAliveCountMax
265180740Sdes                   SmartcardDevice
266180740Sdes                   StrictHostKeyChecking
267180740Sdes                   TCPKeepAlive
268180740Sdes                   Tunnel
269180740Sdes                   TunnelDevice
270180740Sdes                   UsePrivilegedPort
271180740Sdes                   User
272180740Sdes                   UserKnownHostsFile
273180740Sdes                   VerifyHostKeyDNS
274180740Sdes                   XAuthLocation
275180740Sdes
276180740Sdes     -p port
277180740Sdes             Port to connect to on the remote host.  This can be specified on
278180740Sdes             a per-host basis in the configuration file.
279180740Sdes
280180740Sdes     -q      Quiet mode.  Causes all warning and diagnostic messages to be
281180740Sdes             suppressed.
282180740Sdes
283180740Sdes     -R [bind_address:]port:host:hostport
284180740Sdes             Specifies that the given port on the remote (server) host is to
285180740Sdes             be forwarded to the given host and port on the local side.  This
286180740Sdes             works by allocating a socket to listen to port on the remote
287180740Sdes             side, and whenever a connection is made to this port, the connec-
288180740Sdes             tion is forwarded over the secure channel, and a connection is
289180740Sdes             made to host port hostport from the local machine.
290180740Sdes
291180740Sdes             Port forwardings can also be specified in the configuration file.
292180740Sdes             Privileged ports can be forwarded only when logging in as root on
293180740Sdes             the remote machine.  IPv6 addresses can be specified by enclosing
294180740Sdes             the address in square braces or using an alternative syntax:
295180740Sdes             [bind_address/]host/port/hostport.
296180740Sdes
297180740Sdes             By default, the listening socket on the server will be bound to
298180740Sdes             the loopback interface only.  This may be overriden by specifying
299180740Sdes             a bind_address.  An empty bind_address, or the address `*', indi-
300180740Sdes             cates that the remote socket should listen on all interfaces.
301180740Sdes             Specifying a remote bind_address will only succeed if the serv-
302180740Sdes             er's GatewayPorts option is enabled (see sshd_config(5)).
303180740Sdes
304180740Sdes     -S ctl_path
305180740Sdes             Specifies the location of a control socket for connection shar-
306180740Sdes             ing.  Refer to the description of ControlPath and ControlMaster
307180740Sdes             in ssh_config(5) for details.
308180740Sdes
309180740Sdes     -s      May be used to request invocation of a subsystem on the remote
310180740Sdes             system.  Subsystems are a feature of the SSH2 protocol which fa-
311180740Sdes             cilitate the use of SSH as a secure transport for other applica-
312180740Sdes             tions (eg. sftp(1)).  The subsystem is specified as the remote
313180740Sdes             command.
314180740Sdes
315180740Sdes     -T      Disable pseudo-tty allocation.
316180740Sdes
317180740Sdes     -t      Force pseudo-tty allocation.  This can be used to execute arbi-
318180740Sdes             trary screen-based programs on a remote machine, which can be
319180740Sdes             very useful, e.g. when implementing menu services.  Multiple -t
320180740Sdes             options force tty allocation, even if ssh has no local tty.
321180740Sdes
322180740Sdes     -V      Display the version number and exit.
323180740Sdes
324180740Sdes     -v      Verbose mode.  Causes ssh to print debugging messages about its
325180740Sdes             progress.  This is helpful in debugging connection, authentica-
326180740Sdes             tion, and configuration problems.  Multiple -v options increase
327180740Sdes             the verbosity.  The maximum is 3.
328180740Sdes
329180740Sdes     -w local_tun[:remote_tun]
330180740Sdes             Requests tunnel device forwarding with the specified tun(4) de-
331180740Sdes             vices between the client (local_tun) and the server (remote_tun).
332180740Sdes
333180740Sdes             The devices may be specified by numerical ID or the keyword
334180740Sdes             ``any'', which uses the next available tunnel device.  If
335180740Sdes             remote_tun is not specified, it defaults to ``any''.  See also
336180740Sdes             the Tunnel and TunnelDevice directives in ssh_config(5).  If the
337180740Sdes             Tunnel directive is unset, it is set to the default tunnel mode,
338180740Sdes             which is ``point-to-point''.
339180740Sdes
340180740Sdes     -X      Enables X11 forwarding.  This can also be specified on a per-host
341180740Sdes             basis in a configuration file.
342180740Sdes
343180740Sdes             X11 forwarding should be enabled with caution.  Users with the
344180740Sdes             ability to bypass file permissions on the remote host (for the
345180740Sdes             user's X authorization database) can access the local X11 display
346180740Sdes             through the forwarded connection.  An attacker may then be able
347180740Sdes             to perform activities such as keystroke monitoring.
348180740Sdes
349180740Sdes             For this reason, X11 forwarding is subjected to X11 SECURITY ex-
350180740Sdes             tension restrictions by default.  Please refer to the ssh -Y op-
351180740Sdes             tion and the ForwardX11Trusted directive in ssh_config(5) for
352180740Sdes             more information.
353180740Sdes
354180740Sdes     -x      Disables X11 forwarding.
355180740Sdes
356180740Sdes     -Y      Enables trusted X11 forwarding.  Trusted X11 forwardings are not
357180740Sdes             subjected to the X11 SECURITY extension controls.
358180740Sdes
359180740Sdes     ssh may additionally obtain configuration data from a per-user configura-
360180740Sdes     tion file and a system-wide configuration file.  The file format and con-
361180740Sdes     figuration options are described in ssh_config(5).
362180740Sdes
363180740Sdes     ssh exits with the exit status of the remote command or with 255 if an
364180740Sdes     error occurred.
365180740Sdes
366180740SdesAUTHENTICATION
367180740Sdes     The OpenSSH SSH client supports SSH protocols 1 and 2.  Protocol 2 is the
368180740Sdes     default, with ssh falling back to protocol 1 if it detects protocol 2 is
369180740Sdes     unsupported.  These settings may be altered using the Protocol option in
370180740Sdes     ssh_config(5), or enforced using the -1 and -2 options (see above).  Both
371180740Sdes     protocols support similar authentication methods, but protocol 2 is pre-
372180740Sdes     ferred since it provides additional mechanisms for confidentiality (the
373180740Sdes     traffic is encrypted using AES, 3DES, Blowfish, CAST128, or Arcfour) and
374180740Sdes     integrity (hmac-md5, hmac-sha1, hmac-ripemd160).  Protocol 1 lacks a
375180740Sdes     strong mechanism for ensuring the integrity of the connection.
376180740Sdes
377180740Sdes     The methods available for authentication are: GSSAPI-based authentica-
378180740Sdes     tion, host-based authentication, public key authentication, challenge-re-
379180740Sdes     sponse authentication, and password authentication.  Authentication meth-
380180740Sdes     ods are tried in the order specified above, though protocol 2 has a con-
381180740Sdes     figuration option to change the default order: PreferredAuthentications.
382180740Sdes
383180740Sdes     Host-based authentication works as follows: If the machine the user logs
384180740Sdes     in from is listed in /etc/hosts.equiv or /etc/shosts.equiv on the remote
385180740Sdes     machine, and the user names are the same on both sides, or if the files
386180740Sdes     ~/.rhosts or ~/.shosts exist in the user's home directory on the remote
387180740Sdes     machine and contain a line containing the name of the client machine and
388180740Sdes     the name of the user on that machine, the user is considered for login.
389180740Sdes     Additionally, the server must be able to verify the client's host key
390180740Sdes     (see the description of /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts and ~/.ssh/known_hosts,
391180740Sdes     below) for login to be permitted.  This authentication method closes se-
392180740Sdes     curity holes due to IP spoofing, DNS spoofing, and routing spoofing.
393180740Sdes     [Note to the administrator: /etc/hosts.equiv, ~/.rhosts, and the
394180740Sdes     rlogin/rsh protocol in general, are inherently insecure and should be
395180740Sdes     disabled if security is desired.]
396180740Sdes
397180740Sdes     Public key authentication works as follows: The scheme is based on pub-
398180740Sdes     lic-key cryptography, using cryptosystems where encryption and decryption
399180740Sdes     are done using separate keys, and it is unfeasible to derive the decryp-
400180740Sdes     tion key from the encryption key.  The idea is that each user creates a
401180740Sdes     public/private key pair for authentication purposes.  The server knows
402180740Sdes     the public key, and only the user knows the private key.  ssh implements
403180740Sdes     public key authentication protocol automatically, using either the RSA or
404180740Sdes     DSA algorithms.  Protocol 1 is restricted to using only RSA keys, but
405180740Sdes     protocol 2 may use either.  The HISTORY section of ssl(8) contains a
406180740Sdes     brief discussion of the two algorithms.
407180740Sdes
408180740Sdes     The file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys lists the public keys that are permitted
409180740Sdes     for logging in.  When the user logs in, the ssh program tells the server
410180740Sdes     which key pair it would like to use for authentication.  The client
411180740Sdes     proves that it has access to the private key and the server checks that
412180740Sdes     the corresponding public key is authorized to accept the account.
413180740Sdes
414180740Sdes     The user creates his/her key pair by running ssh-keygen(1).  This stores
415180740Sdes     the private key in ~/.ssh/identity (protocol 1), ~/.ssh/id_dsa (protocol
416180740Sdes     2 DSA), or ~/.ssh/id_rsa (protocol 2 RSA) and stores the public key in
417180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/identity.pub (protocol 1), ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub (protocol 2 DSA), or
418180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub (protocol 2 RSA) in the user's home directory.  The us-
419180740Sdes     er should then copy the public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys in his/her
420180740Sdes     home directory on the remote machine.  The authorized_keys file corre-
421180740Sdes     sponds to the conventional ~/.rhosts file, and has one key per line,
422180740Sdes     though the lines can be very long.  After this, the user can log in with-
423180740Sdes     out giving the password.
424180740Sdes
425180740Sdes     The most convenient way to use public key authentication may be with an
426180740Sdes     authentication agent.  See ssh-agent(1) for more information.
427180740Sdes
428180740Sdes     Challenge-response authentication works as follows: The server sends an
429180740Sdes     arbitrary "challenge" text, and prompts for a response.  Protocol 2 al-
430180740Sdes     lows multiple challenges and responses; protocol 1 is restricted to just
431180740Sdes     one challenge/response.  Examples of challenge-response authentication
432180740Sdes     include BSD Authentication (see login.conf(5)) and PAM (some non-OpenBSD
433180740Sdes     systems).
434180740Sdes
435180740Sdes     Finally, if other authentication methods fail, ssh prompts the user for a
436180740Sdes     password.  The password is sent to the remote host for checking; however,
437180740Sdes     since all communications are encrypted, the password cannot be seen by
438180740Sdes     someone listening on the network.
439180740Sdes
440180740Sdes     ssh automatically maintains and checks a database containing identifica-
441180740Sdes     tion for all hosts it has ever been used with.  Host keys are stored in
442180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/known_hosts in the user's home directory.  Additionally, the file
443180740Sdes     /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts is automatically checked for known hosts.  Any
444180740Sdes     new hosts are automatically added to the user's file.  If a host's iden-
445180740Sdes     tification ever changes, ssh warns about this and disables password au-
446180740Sdes     thentication to prevent server spoofing or man-in-the-middle attacks,
447180740Sdes     which could otherwise be used to circumvent the encryption.  The
448180740Sdes     StrictHostKeyChecking option can be used to control logins to machines
449180740Sdes     whose host key is not known or has changed.
450180740Sdes
451180740Sdes     When the user's identity has been accepted by the server, the server ei-
452180740Sdes     ther executes the given command, or logs into the machine and gives the
453180740Sdes     user a normal shell on the remote machine.  All communication with the
454180740Sdes     remote command or shell will be automatically encrypted.
455180740Sdes
456180740Sdes     If a pseudo-terminal has been allocated (normal login session), the user
457180740Sdes     may use the escape characters noted below.
458180740Sdes
459180740Sdes     If no pseudo-tty has been allocated, the session is transparent and can
460180740Sdes     be used to reliably transfer binary data.  On most systems, setting the
461180740Sdes     escape character to ``none'' will also make the session transparent even
462180740Sdes     if a tty is used.
463180740Sdes
464180740Sdes     The session terminates when the command or shell on the remote machine
465180740Sdes     exits and all X11 and TCP connections have been closed.
466180740Sdes
467180740SdesESCAPE CHARACTERS
468180740Sdes     When a pseudo-terminal has been requested, ssh supports a number of func-
469180740Sdes     tions through the use of an escape character.
470180740Sdes
471180740Sdes     A single tilde character can be sent as ~~ or by following the tilde by a
472180740Sdes     character other than those described below.  The escape character must
473180740Sdes     always follow a newline to be interpreted as special.  The escape charac-
474180740Sdes     ter can be changed in configuration files using the EscapeChar configura-
475180740Sdes     tion directive or on the command line by the -e option.
476180740Sdes
477180740Sdes     The supported escapes (assuming the default `~') are:
478180740Sdes
479180740Sdes     ~.      Disconnect.
480180740Sdes
481180740Sdes     ~^Z     Background ssh.
482180740Sdes
483180740Sdes     ~#      List forwarded connections.
484180740Sdes
485180740Sdes     ~&      Background ssh at logout when waiting for forwarded connection /
486180740Sdes             X11 sessions to terminate.
487180740Sdes
488180740Sdes     ~?      Display a list of escape characters.
489180740Sdes
490180740Sdes     ~B      Send a BREAK to the remote system (only useful for SSH protocol
491180740Sdes             version 2 and if the peer supports it).
492180740Sdes
493180740Sdes     ~C      Open command line.  Currently this allows the addition of port
494180740Sdes             forwardings using the -L and -R options (see above).  It also al-
495180740Sdes             lows the cancellation of existing remote port-forwardings using
496180740Sdes             -KR[bind_address:]port.  !command allows the user to execute a
497180740Sdes             local command if the PermitLocalCommand option is enabled in
498180740Sdes             ssh_config(5).  Basic help is available, using the -h option.
499180740Sdes
500180740Sdes     ~R      Request rekeying of the connection (only useful for SSH protocol
501180740Sdes             version 2 and if the peer supports it).
502180740Sdes
503180740SdesTCP FORWARDING
504180740Sdes     Forwarding of arbitrary TCP connections over the secure channel can be
505180740Sdes     specified either on the command line or in a configuration file.  One
506180740Sdes     possible application of TCP forwarding is a secure connection to a mail
507180740Sdes     server; another is going through firewalls.
508180740Sdes
509180740Sdes     In the example below, we look at encrypting communication between an IRC
510180740Sdes     client and server, even though the IRC server does not directly support
511180740Sdes     encrypted communications.  This works as follows: the user connects to
512180740Sdes     the remote host using ssh, specifying a port to be used to forward con-
513180740Sdes     nections to the remote server.  After that it is possible to start the
514180740Sdes     service which is to be encrypted on the client machine, connecting to the
515180740Sdes     same local port, and ssh will encrypt and forward the connection.
516180740Sdes
517180740Sdes     The following example tunnels an IRC session from client machine
518180740Sdes     ``127.0.0.1'' (localhost) to remote server ``server.example.com'':
519180740Sdes
520180740Sdes         $ ssh -f -L 1234:localhost:6667 server.example.com sleep 10
521180740Sdes         $ irc -c '#users' -p 1234 pinky 127.0.0.1
522180740Sdes
523180740Sdes     This tunnels a connection to IRC server ``server.example.com'', joining
524180740Sdes     channel ``#users'', nickname ``pinky'', using port 1234.  It doesn't mat-
525180740Sdes     ter which port is used, as long as it's greater than 1023 (remember, only
526180740Sdes     root can open sockets on privileged ports) and doesn't conflict with any
527180740Sdes     ports already in use.  The connection is forwarded to port 6667 on the
528180740Sdes     remote server, since that's the standard port for IRC services.
529180740Sdes
530180740Sdes     The -f option backgrounds ssh and the remote command ``sleep 10'' is
531180740Sdes     specified to allow an amount of time (10 seconds, in the example) to
532180740Sdes     start the service which is to be tunnelled.  If no connections are made
533180740Sdes     within the time specified, ssh will exit.
534180740Sdes
535180740SdesX11 FORWARDING
536180740Sdes     If the ForwardX11 variable is set to ``yes'' (or see the description of
537180740Sdes     the -X, -x, and -Y options above) and the user is using X11 (the DISPLAY
538180740Sdes     environment variable is set), the connection to the X11 display is auto-
539180740Sdes     matically forwarded to the remote side in such a way that any X11 pro-
540180740Sdes     grams started from the shell (or command) will go through the encrypted
541180740Sdes     channel, and the connection to the real X server will be made from the
542180740Sdes     local machine.  The user should not manually set DISPLAY.  Forwarding of
543180740Sdes     X11 connections can be configured on the command line or in configuration
544180740Sdes     files.
545180740Sdes
546180740Sdes     The DISPLAY value set by ssh will point to the server machine, but with a
547180740Sdes     display number greater than zero.  This is normal, and happens because
548180740Sdes     ssh creates a ``proxy'' X server on the server machine for forwarding the
549180740Sdes     connections over the encrypted channel.
550180740Sdes
551180740Sdes     ssh will also automatically set up Xauthority data on the server machine.
552180740Sdes     For this purpose, it will generate a random authorization cookie, store
553180740Sdes     it in Xauthority on the server, and verify that any forwarded connections
554180740Sdes     carry this cookie and replace it by the real cookie when the connection
555180740Sdes     is opened.  The real authentication cookie is never sent to the server
556180740Sdes     machine (and no cookies are sent in the plain).
557180740Sdes
558180740Sdes     If the ForwardAgent variable is set to ``yes'' (or see the description of
559180740Sdes     the -A and -a options above) and the user is using an authentication
560180740Sdes     agent, the connection to the agent is automatically forwarded to the re-
561180740Sdes     mote side.
562180740Sdes
563180740SdesVERIFYING HOST KEYS
564180740Sdes     When connecting to a server for the first time, a fingerprint of the
565180740Sdes     server's public key is presented to the user (unless the option
566180740Sdes     StrictHostKeyChecking has been disabled).  Fingerprints can be determined
567180740Sdes     using ssh-keygen(1):
568180740Sdes
569180740Sdes           $ ssh-keygen -l -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
570180740Sdes
571180740Sdes     If the fingerprint is already known, it can be matched and verified, and
572180740Sdes     the key can be accepted.  If the fingerprint is unknown, an alternative
573180740Sdes     method of verification is available: SSH fingerprints verified by DNS.
574180740Sdes     An additional resource record (RR), SSHFP, is added to a zonefile and the
575180740Sdes     connecting client is able to match the fingerprint with that of the key
576180740Sdes     presented.
577180740Sdes
578180740Sdes     In this example, we are connecting a client to a server,
579180740Sdes     ``host.example.com''.  The SSHFP resource records should first be added
580180740Sdes     to the zonefile for host.example.com:
581180740Sdes
582180740Sdes           $ ssh-keygen -r host.example.com.
583180740Sdes
584180740Sdes     The output lines will have to be added to the zonefile.  To check that
585180740Sdes     the zone is answering fingerprint queries:
586180740Sdes
587180740Sdes           $ dig -t SSHFP host.example.com
588180740Sdes
589180740Sdes     Finally the client connects:
590180740Sdes
591180740Sdes           $ ssh -o "VerifyHostKeyDNS ask" host.example.com
592180740Sdes           [...]
593180740Sdes           Matching host key fingerprint found in DNS.
594180740Sdes           Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?
595180740Sdes
596180740Sdes     See the VerifyHostKeyDNS option in ssh_config(5) for more information.
597180740Sdes
598180740SdesSSH-BASED VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS
599180740Sdes     ssh contains support for Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnelling using
600180740Sdes     the tun(4) network pseudo-device, allowing two networks to be joined se-
601180740Sdes     curely.  The sshd_config(5) configuration option PermitTunnel controls
602180740Sdes     whether the server supports this, and at what level (layer 2 or 3 traf-
603180740Sdes     fic).
604180740Sdes
605180740Sdes     The following example would connect client network 10.0.50.0/24 with re-
606180740Sdes     mote network 10.0.99.0/24 using a point-to-point connection from 10.1.1.1
607180740Sdes     to 10.1.1.2, provided that the SSH server running on the gateway to the
608180740Sdes     remote network, at 192.168.1.15, allows it.
609180740Sdes
610180740Sdes     On the client:
611180740Sdes
612180740Sdes           # ssh -f -w 0:1 192.168.1.15 true
613180740Sdes           # ifconfig tun0 10.1.1.1 10.1.1.2 netmask 255.255.255.252
614180740Sdes           # route add 10.0.99.0/24 10.1.1.2
615180740Sdes
616180740Sdes     On the server:
617180740Sdes
618180740Sdes           # ifconfig tun1 10.1.1.2 10.1.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.252
619180740Sdes           # route add 10.0.50.0/24 10.1.1.1
620180740Sdes
621180740Sdes     Client access may be more finely tuned via the /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
622180740Sdes     file (see below) and the PermitRootLogin server option.  The following
623180740Sdes     entry would permit connections on tun(4) device 1 from user ``jane'' and
624180740Sdes     on tun device 2 from user ``john'', if PermitRootLogin is set to
625180740Sdes     ``forced-commands-only'':
626180740Sdes
627180740Sdes       tunnel="1",command="sh /etc/netstart tun1" ssh-rsa ... jane
628180740Sdes       tunnel="2",command="sh /etc/netstart tun2" ssh-rsa ... john
629180740Sdes
630180740Sdes     Since an SSH-based setup entails a fair amount of overhead, it may be
631180740Sdes     more suited to temporary setups, such as for wireless VPNs.  More perma-
632180740Sdes     nent VPNs are better provided by tools such as ipsecctl(8) and
633180740Sdes     isakmpd(8).
634180740Sdes
635180740SdesENVIRONMENT
636180740Sdes     ssh will normally set the following environment variables:
637180740Sdes
638180740Sdes     DISPLAY               The DISPLAY variable indicates the location of the
639180740Sdes                           X11 server.  It is automatically set by ssh to
640180740Sdes                           point to a value of the form ``hostname:n'', where
641180740Sdes                           ``hostname'' indicates the host where the shell
642180740Sdes                           runs, and `n' is an integer >= 1.  ssh uses this
643180740Sdes                           special value to forward X11 connections over the
644180740Sdes                           secure channel.  The user should normally not set
645180740Sdes                           DISPLAY explicitly, as that will render the X11
646180740Sdes                           connection insecure (and will require the user to
647180740Sdes                           manually copy any required authorization cookies).
648180740Sdes
649180740Sdes     HOME                  Set to the path of the user's home directory.
650180740Sdes
651180740Sdes     LOGNAME               Synonym for USER; set for compatibility with sys-
652180740Sdes                           tems that use this variable.
653180740Sdes
654180740Sdes     MAIL                  Set to the path of the user's mailbox.
655180740Sdes
656180740Sdes     PATH                  Set to the default PATH, as specified when compil-
657180740Sdes                           ing ssh.
658180740Sdes
659180740Sdes     SSH_ASKPASS           If ssh needs a passphrase, it will read the
660180740Sdes                           passphrase from the current terminal if it was run
661180740Sdes                           from a terminal.  If ssh does not have a terminal
662180740Sdes                           associated with it but DISPLAY and SSH_ASKPASS are
663180740Sdes                           set, it will execute the program specified by
664180740Sdes                           SSH_ASKPASS and open an X11 window to read the
665180740Sdes                           passphrase.  This is particularly useful when call-
666180740Sdes                           ing ssh from a .xsession or related script.  (Note
667180740Sdes                           that on some machines it may be necessary to redi-
668180740Sdes                           rect the input from /dev/null to make this work.)
669180740Sdes
670180740Sdes     SSH_AUTH_SOCK         Identifies the path of a UNIX-domain socket used to
671180740Sdes                           communicate with the agent.
672180740Sdes
673180740Sdes     SSH_CONNECTION        Identifies the client and server ends of the con-
674180740Sdes                           nection.  The variable contains four space-separat-
675180740Sdes                           ed values: client IP address, client port number,
676180740Sdes                           server IP address, and server port number.
677180740Sdes
678180740Sdes     SSH_ORIGINAL_COMMAND  This variable contains the original command line if
679180740Sdes                           a forced command is executed.  It can be used to
680180740Sdes                           extract the original arguments.
681180740Sdes
682180740Sdes     SSH_TTY               This is set to the name of the tty (path to the de-
683180740Sdes                           vice) associated with the current shell or command.
684180740Sdes                           If the current session has no tty, this variable is
685180740Sdes                           not set.
686180740Sdes
687180740Sdes     TZ                    This variable is set to indicate the present time
688180740Sdes                           zone if it was set when the daemon was started
689180740Sdes                           (i.e. the daemon passes the value on to new connec-
690180740Sdes                           tions).
691180740Sdes
692180740Sdes     USER                  Set to the name of the user logging in.
693180740Sdes
694180740Sdes     Additionally, ssh reads ~/.ssh/environment, and adds lines of the format
695180740Sdes     ``VARNAME=value'' to the environment if the file exists and users are al-
696180740Sdes     lowed to change their environment.  For more information, see the
697180740Sdes     PermitUserEnvironment option in sshd_config(5).
698180740Sdes
699180740SdesFILES
700180740Sdes     ~/.rhosts
701180740Sdes             This file is used for host-based authentication (see above).  On
702180740Sdes             some machines this file may need to be world-readable if the us-
703180740Sdes             er's home directory is on an NFS partition, because sshd(8) reads
704180740Sdes             it as root.  Additionally, this file must be owned by the user,
705180740Sdes             and must not have write permissions for anyone else.  The recom-
706180740Sdes             mended permission for most machines is read/write for the user,
707180740Sdes             and not accessible by others.
708180740Sdes
709180740Sdes     ~/.shosts
710180740Sdes             This file is used in exactly the same way as .rhosts, but allows
711180740Sdes             host-based authentication without permitting login with
712180740Sdes             rlogin/rsh.
713180740Sdes
714180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/authorized_keys
715180740Sdes             Lists the public keys (RSA/DSA) that can be used for logging in
716180740Sdes             as this user.  The format of this file is described in the
717180740Sdes             sshd(8) manual page.  This file is not highly sensitive, but the
718180740Sdes             recommended permissions are read/write for the user, and not ac-
719180740Sdes             cessible by others.
720180740Sdes
721180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/config
722180740Sdes             This is the per-user configuration file.  The file format and
723180740Sdes             configuration options are described in ssh_config(5).  Because of
724180740Sdes             the potential for abuse, this file must have strict permissions:
725180740Sdes             read/write for the user, and not accessible by others.
726180740Sdes
727180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/environment
728180740Sdes             Contains additional definitions for environment variables; see
729180740Sdes             ENVIRONMENT, above.
730180740Sdes
731180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/identity
732180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/id_dsa
733180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/id_rsa
734180740Sdes             Contains the private key for authentication.  These files contain
735180740Sdes             sensitive data and should be readable by the user but not acces-
736180740Sdes             sible by others (read/write/execute).  ssh will simply ignore a
737180740Sdes             private key file if it is accessible by others.  It is possible
738180740Sdes             to specify a passphrase when generating the key which will be
739180740Sdes             used to encrypt the sensitive part of this file using 3DES.
740180740Sdes
741180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/identity.pub
742180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/id_dsa.pub
743180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
744180740Sdes             Contains the public key for authentication.  These files are not
745180740Sdes             sensitive and can (but need not) be readable by anyone.
746180740Sdes
747180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/known_hosts
748180740Sdes             Contains a list of host keys for all hosts the user has logged
749180740Sdes             into that are not already in the systemwide list of known host
750180740Sdes             keys.  See sshd(8) for further details of the format of this
751180740Sdes             file.
752180740Sdes
753180740Sdes     ~/.ssh/rc
754180740Sdes             Commands in this file are executed by ssh when the user logs in,
755180740Sdes             just before the user's shell (or command) is started.  See the
756180740Sdes             sshd(8) manual page for more information.
757180740Sdes
758180740Sdes     /etc/hosts.equiv
759180740Sdes             This file is for host-based authentication (see above).  It
760180740Sdes             should only be writable by root.
761180740Sdes
762180740Sdes     /etc/shosts.equiv
763180740Sdes             This file is used in exactly the same way as hosts.equiv, but al-
764180740Sdes             lows host-based authentication without permitting login with
765180740Sdes             rlogin/rsh.
766180740Sdes
767180740Sdes     /etc/ssh/ssh_config
768180740Sdes             Systemwide configuration file.  The file format and configuration
769180740Sdes             options are described in ssh_config(5).
770180740Sdes
771180740Sdes     /etc/ssh/ssh_host_key
772180740Sdes     /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key
773180740Sdes     /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key
774180740Sdes             These three files contain the private parts of the host keys and
775180740Sdes             are used for host-based authentication.  If protocol version 1 is
776180740Sdes             used, ssh must be setuid root, since the host key is readable on-
777180740Sdes             ly by root.  For protocol version 2, ssh uses ssh-keysign(8) to
778180740Sdes             access the host keys, eliminating the requirement that ssh be se-
779180740Sdes             tuid root when host-based authentication is used.  By default ssh
780180740Sdes             is not setuid root.
781180740Sdes
782180740Sdes     /etc/ssh/ssh_known_hosts
783180740Sdes             Systemwide list of known host keys.  This file should be prepared
784180740Sdes             by the system administrator to contain the public host keys of
785180740Sdes             all machines in the organization.  It should be world-readable.
786180740Sdes             See sshd(8) for further details of the format of this file.
787180740Sdes
788180740Sdes     /etc/ssh/sshrc
789180740Sdes             Commands in this file are executed by ssh when the user logs in,
790180740Sdes             just before the user's shell (or command) is started.  See the
791180740Sdes             sshd(8) manual page for more information.
792180740Sdes
793180740SdesSEE ALSO
794180740Sdes     scp(1), sftp(1), ssh-add(1), ssh-agent(1), ssh-keygen(1), ssh-keyscan(1),
795180740Sdes     tun(4), hosts.equiv(5), ssh_config(5), ssh-keysign(8), sshd(8)
796180740Sdes
797180740Sdes     The Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol Assigned Numbers, RFC 4250, 2006.
798180740Sdes
799180740Sdes     The Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol Architecture, RFC 4251, 2006.
800180740Sdes
801180740Sdes     The Secure Shell (SSH) Authentication Protocol, RFC 4252, 2006.
802180740Sdes
803180740Sdes     The Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer Protocol, RFC 4253, 2006.
804180740Sdes
805180740Sdes     The Secure Shell (SSH) Connection Protocol, RFC 4254, 2006.
806180740Sdes
807180740Sdes     Using DNS to Securely Publish Secure Shell (SSH) Key Fingerprints, RFC
808180740Sdes     4255, 2006.
809180740Sdes
810180740Sdes     Generic Message Exchange Authentication for the Secure Shell Protocol
811180740Sdes     (SSH), RFC 4256, 2006.
812180740Sdes
813180740Sdes     The Secure Shell (SSH) Session Channel Break Extension, RFC 4335, 2006.
814180740Sdes
815180740Sdes     The Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer Encryption Modes, RFC 4344, 2006.
816180740Sdes
817180740Sdes     Improved Arcfour Modes for the Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer
818180740Sdes     Protocol, RFC 4345, 2006.
819180740Sdes
820180740Sdes     Diffie-Hellman Group Exchange for the Secure Shell (SSH) Transport Layer
821180740Sdes     Protocol, RFC 4419, 2006.
822180740Sdes
823180740Sdes     The Secure Shell (SSH) Public Key File Format, RFC 4716, 2006.
824180740Sdes
825180740SdesAUTHORS
826180740Sdes     OpenSSH is a derivative of the original and free ssh 1.2.12 release by
827180740Sdes     Tatu Ylonen.  Aaron Campbell, Bob Beck, Markus Friedl, Niels Provos, Theo
828180740Sdes     de Raadt and Dug Song removed many bugs, re-added newer features and
829180740Sdes     created OpenSSH.  Markus Friedl contributed the support for SSH protocol
830180740Sdes     versions 1.5 and 2.0.
831180740Sdes
832180740SdesOpenBSD 4.1                   September 25, 1999                            13
833